Cobham Hall (Including Kitchen And Stable Court)

Cobham Hall, including Kitchen and Stable Court

Cobham Hall is one of the largest and most important houses in Kent, with origins dating from 1584 onwards. The De Cobham family had held the seat since 1208, and their medieval house stood on the site of the present centre block until 1662.

The building developed in phases over nearly three centuries. The two brick wings forming the west court were constructed by William Brooke, Lord Cobham: the south wing between 1584 and 1587, and the north wing begun in 1591. The centre block was built by Charles Stuart, sixth and last Duke of Lennox, between 1662 and 1672 to the design of Peter Mills. When the house passed to John Bligh (later first Earl of Darnley) in the early 18th century, it underwent further development. Sir William Chambers altered the west front for the third Earl between 1768 and 1770, adding a storey. Between 1771 and 1773, a two-storey corridor was added along the north side of the centre block, the east or kitchen court was begun in matching style to the two wings, and certain rooms were redecorated in classical style. The fourth Earl, who inherited in 1771, employed James Wyatt, who designed the bridge connecting the north front to the terrace, forming an entrance beneath a porte-cochere, and executed some Gothic work inside and added decorative detail to the hall. Between 1817 and 1818, George and John Repton made alterations in Tudor style and inserted some bogus dates. The last significant alterations to the Dining Room were made about 1840, with recent work undertaken for occupation by a school.

The plan forms an H-shape. The centre block, originally two and partly three storeys, was extended from the centre across three bays in 1768–70. It is constructed of red brick with stone cornice, brick parapet with stone finials, and a hipped slate roof. Nine sash windows with glazing bars sit in stone surrounds. Giant Corinthian pilasters of stone adorn the three centre bays. A central door features engaged columns and a curved broken pediment. Triple brick chimney stacks rise from the end walls. Cast lead rainwater downpipes are dated 1587 and 1662.

The north front of the west wing displays seven windows and six chimney stacks with twin shafts. A wide central projection contains a bay window with seven and two lights on the ground floor and seven and thirteen lights on the first floor, topped by a gable dated 1812. Similar small bay windows flank either side. A gabled porch stands at the west end. At the east end, the tower projects into the bridge and porte-cochere added by Wyatt in 1802–4. The archway is faced in Roman Cement with stone buttresses and two windows on each side, with the interior forming a cloister with plastered walls.

To the east, the kitchen court was added in 1771–3 in brick, with areas of 16th-century brickwork. Its north front has ten windows and five chimney stacks with twin shafts. A four-centred arched doorway of Bath stone bears a Latin inscription and the date 1831. At the north-east corner, a projection in Tudor brick features a four-centred arched doorway. The inner facade has six windows and a central single-storey porch. The south side displays ten windows and three four-centred arched stone doorways with a central projection. The east side has eight windows, with a wing containing stables and coach house, added by Wyatt in 1789–90, featuring a brick archway. Inside, a projecting central clock tower of three storeys with clock face and bell probably dates to Repton's work of 1818.

The main south front rises two storeys with basement and attic. Fifteen windows and seven dormers are set behind a brick parapet. Casement windows on the first floor have six and nine lights framed in stone, while ground-floor sash and some French windows were inserted by the third Earl. A central porch of two storeys ascends seven steps to a round-headed stone doorway with pediment and the date 1584. Three windows on each side have twin octagonal chimneys set on the parapet, followed by similar projections without doorways, three more windows, and a similar pair of twin chimneys. A terrace with brick parapet between projections contains tiny round windows lighting the basement. At each end, projecting octagonal towers of four storeys rise from a square base. Stone bands above the third floor form a lozenge pattern. The towers are roofed with ogee lead-covered cupolas topped by weathervanes. The south side of the kitchen court extending eastward is two storeys tall, with stone string courses, brick parapet, and slate roof. Eight windows feature casements of six lights on the ground floor with stone mullions. A central projection with gable contains a 16th-century round-headed doorway and a stone cartouche dated 1789. Two chimneys have octagonal stacks.

The inner face opposite the main south facade displays nine windows, all four-light casements in two tiers on the ground floor and three above, enclosed in stone. To the west are two chimney stacks with paired octagonal shafts. A stone oriel in the fourth bay from the east has eighteen lights with pierced stone cresting above. A gabled dormer rises above, flanked by scrolls, topped by a stone pediment with finials and cresting. A round-headed doorway features stone Roman Doric columns on pedestals with a triglyph frieze. This may have been designed by Giles de Witt. At the west end, a shallow bay of fourteen lights on each floor is topped by a gable with finials. The inner face of the north wing is similar, including a bay at the west end, but features an elaborate projecting porch dated 1594, possibly designed by Giles de Witt. It has a round-headed arch flanked by twin Doric columns. Above on the first floor, two round-headed lights are flanked by pairs of Ionic columns foliated to one-third height and fluted above, set within a broken pediment containing the Darnley coat of arms flanked by vase finials.

Internally, no 16th-century work survives except for elaborate alabaster and marble torch chimney pieces by Giles de Witt. The gilt Hall dates to 1672, with marble wall decorations added by James Wyatt; George IV considered it the finest room in England. Its marble chimney piece is by R. Westmacott senior. A Snetzler organ of 1779 is installed. The vestibule in the centre of the south front was designed by Sir William Chambers or Geoffrey Shakespeare. The hall is square with an apsidal end, divided by a screen of the Corinthian order. The octagonal room on the first floor has Chinese wall-paper of 1770.